Since the campaign launched to recruit more players to the world of Ingress, I've seen plenty of things. I've seen lots of neat artwork trying to sway a potential new player to choose one side or the other. I've seen lots of game-related training material that teaches the tips and tricks of the scanner: this is how you optimally deploy a resonator. This is how you fire a burster to get more damage, and so on.

What I haven't seen are any good posts or guides that address the other aspect of the game for new players that is just as important: the social aspect. This post will attempt to rectify this.

Ingress is the first game of its kind. It integrates a mobile, augmented reality game with social media. In order to get the most out of the game, you have to be somewhat savvy with social media platforms. Ingress does have official accounts on Twitter and Facebook, but the vast majority of Ingress-related news and information comes from right here on Google Plus. G+ is the best place to find out about Ingress meetups and events in your local community, connect with other local players, as well as finding out about rules changes and game-wide events, called “anomalies.” Be sure to join the official Ingress G+ community here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/103803967875500436831

Below are listed some of the recommended people and pages to follow on G+ to get the most out of your Ingress experience.

OFFICIAL+Ingress – The official page for Ingress itself. The page tends to post news and reshare posts from other Ingress-related pages.+NIA Ops – The page for game operations. Things like portal appeals and player reports are handled by this entity.

ADMINISTRATION+Joe Philley – Joe is a Niantic employee that handles a lot of public relations for Ingress in the U.S. His posts are prolific, and are usually about one of two things: Ingress or food. This man is literally paid to travel the country, meet Ingress players, and eat bacon. I envy him so much. Note that Joe is a Resistance agent. His counterpart for the Enlightened is…

+Brian Rose – Brian does not post quite as much on G+. While Brian does travel, he also handles a lot of the back-end administration, such as designing rulesets for anomalies.

+Lamia Alonso - Lamia is the social media manager for the EMEA region, or Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

+Linda Besh - Linda joined Niantic Labs after earning the title of Elite V. She is a driving force behind meet-ups and the convention scene, and has a very helpful website of her own, www.agentportalyst.com.

+Oliver Lynton-Wolfe (Yuri Lowenthal, voice actor - Ben10)– Dr. Oliver Lynton-Wolfe is the researcher behind the “scanner” technology. Funny thing, there is another individual that has been mentioned briefly in some Ingress Reports named Dr. Joanna Brandt. She played by Tara Platt, who is an accomplished voice actress in her own right and is also Yuri’s wife.

+Roland Jarvis (JB Blanc, actor/voice actor - BreakingBad, TITANFALL) - Roland Jarvis is a figurative leader of the Enlightened. He was assassinated and then brought back to life by the events of Operation 13 MAGNUS.

+Klue S. (Katy Townsend, model/actress) - Klue was an investigator before she got “possessed” by ADA.

+Hank Johnson (Christopher Corey Smith, voice actor - WorldofWarcraft, Starcraft II, Skyrim) - Hank is a “simulacrum,” an entity that dies every 1331 days and is reborn, and also a figurative Enlightened leader. Recently, an effort took place to preserve Hank’s memories so he will have them when he comes back to life in his next cycle.

+H. Richard Loeb - Also known as "P.A. Chapeau" or "PAC," he is another well-known investigator. Last known whereabouts were a scheduled rendezvous with Klue in Nashville during Recursion.

+A Detection Algorithm - Also known as ADA, this is the AI of H. Richard Loeb's creation, now of mysterious motives. It is also the voice of your scanner. Please note that the voice actress for the scanner is Laura Bailey (LeagueofLegends, Bloodrayne) and not the actress who plays Klue.

PlayerBasedCreations+Behind The Scanner - Behind The Scanner, or "BTS," is a webcast show hosted by +Andrew Krug, +Daphne D., and +Jorge Pedrero that interviews players from around the world and casts a fascinating light on what would otherwise just be another name in the Ingress scanner.

+The Meridian Project - "Exploring the Niantic social experience by the players, for the players." The Meridian Project highlights social content generated by players.

+I Shard Ingress - A hilarious parody account that makes Ingress headlines in the style of The Onion. It also got more followers in 2 weeks than I have total. Heh.

+Fev Games - An account focused on disseminating information on Ingress and other augmented reality games. Their "teardown" posts on Ingress updates are very neat.

There may be more that I have missed, but the above listed people and pages should cover the majority of the Ingress world, in addition to any friends you make along the way. While it is completely possible to play strictly from your scanner, social media adds a whole new and enriching dimension to Ingress. Have fun and happy hacking!

+Christopher Bowman​ speaking of Ingress social media there is that agent run show +Behind The Scanner​ that has had the characters on revealing storyline elements, NIA employees addressing questions, and of course agents from around the world to tell their stories. I think you were a guest too if I recall.

Excellent post, thanks for sharing... Pity there's no NIA staff member dedicated to 'find and ban notorious and obvious cheaters'... I would love to see NIA put the development of new in game features on hold for 6 months just to dedicate manpower to clean up the player base and filter out the Agents who are trying to ruin this beautiful game... But back on topic, excellent post, very helpful!